At the heart of the dispute between President Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu over invading Rafah is a larger disagreement about what Israel can reasonably hope to accomplish against Hamas.
Israel’s military has already made progress, having dismantled at least 18 of Hamas’s 24 battalions since the Oct. 7 attacks.
But Hamas’s top leaders and thousands of fighters have survived, many evidently fleeing to tunnels under Rafah.
“Ending the war without clearing out Rafah is like sending a firefighter to extinguish 80 percent of the fire,” Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet and Netanyahu’s chief political opponent, has told U.S. officials.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board, which tends to support Netanyahu, has called Rafah “the crucial city for the terrorist group’s future.”
Persons:
Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu, I’ll, Netanyahu, ” Benny Gantz, ”
Organizations:
U.S
Locations:
Rafah, Israel